Ball-belt conveyors are known. Such conveyors include an external belt that runs in a first direction to carry objects on the external belt from an upstream end of the conveyor to a downstream end of the conveyor. The external belt includes an array of openings, and a ball is captively retained and rotatably supported in each of the openings. Portions of each ball project from opposite sides of the belt, and objects on the belt are supported by the upper portions of the balls. An inner belt is mounted inside the external belt and runs in a direction perpendicular to the downstream direction. The portions of each ball that project into the interior of the external belt are in contact with the inner belt. When the inner belt is driven in a first direction, it causes the balls in contact therewith to rotate in the opposite direction. The rotation of the balls causes the objects supported on the tops of the balls to move transversely to the downstream direction. If the external belt is stopped while the internal belt is driven, the movement of the inner belt will cause objects on the external belt to move in a direction perpendicular to the downstream direction. If the external belt and the internal belt are driven at the same time, objects on the external belt will move laterally across the top surface of the external belt while at the same time moving in the downstream direction. A conventional ball-belt conveyor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,099 to Schroeder et al. which patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
It is often desirable to position conveyors, whether ball-belt conveyors or conventional conveyors, so that the top surface of a conveyor belt is twelve inches off the ground. This standard height allows conveyors to be integrated into existing production lines, many other elements of which are designed to work with a 12 inch conveyor height. This becomes difficult when the conveyor is provided with a lift table for raising and lowering the conveyor because the lift table will generally increase the overall height of the conveyor to more than 12 inches. Therefore, in the past, it was often necessary to dig a pit at the location where the lift table was to be located in order to keep the top of the conveyor mounted on the lift table at the desired 12 inch height above the floor. The present applicant developed an improved conveyor that can be used with a lift table and operate at a 12 inch height without the use of a pit. This conveyor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,807,323 to Allen, Jr. et al., which patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
It would be desirable to provide a ball-belt conveyor that can be mounted with its upper surface approximately 12 inches above a support surface without the use of a pit. It would also be desirable to provide a ball-belt conveyor having a configuration that permits objects to be discharged to the front, rear and to both sides of the external conveyor.